Dean Niewolny spent 23 years in executive roles with three of Wall Street’s largest financial firms, finishing his career in the financial sector as a market manager for Wells Fargo Advisors in Chicago, where he oversaw a $100mm market. While in Chicago, he and his wife, Lisa, traveled to Africa to attend to the abject needs of widows and orphans. This sparked a desire in him to understand how purpose, passion, and work can collide.
After continued study and contemplation, Dean decided to become the CEO of Halftime Institute in 2011, where he could help more people who, like him, wanted to expand their skills and work from a place of passion and purpose while making a significant difference. In 2021, after 11 years of faithful service, Dean stepped into the role of Chairman of the Board and Halftime Ambassador to expand his reach with this message he is most passionate about. He now speaks at events worldwide, equipping business leaders and corporate teams to pursue joy with impact, balance, and passion at work while living lives of significant value.
Out of Dean’s 35 years of executive experience equipping Fortune 100 and 500 leaders and teams, he mastered a framework of leaders and teams that finish well. Using this framework, Dean walks teams and leaders through breaking down barriers and uniting with passion around a common vision.
In 2017, Dean authored his first book, Trade Up: How to Go From Just Making Money to Making A Difference. In it, Dean shares how to bring passion to work using what you do to live a life significance personally and professionally. Trade Up is available on Amazon.com, Christianbook.com, and Barnes&Noble.com.
Having grown up playing sports—eventually in college and semi-professional baseball— Dean still enjoys coaching his son and attending his games. He and Lisa and their two children live in Colleyville, Texas.
Featured Topics:
Trade Up: How to Move from Just Making Money to Making a Difference
Do you feel the passion for your work has dulled? Is what once seemed effortless now beginning to tire and wear you down? How many times did you hit snooze this morning? Dean Niewolney has been leading leaders for over 35 years. In his working with nonprofit organizations and Fortune 100 and 500 executives consistently, one truth is evident: Leaders who have learned to unleash or reignite their passions at work drive more results across all levels of their organization. They also continue to balance family and other relationships that matter most. Let Dean help you reignite your purpose so you can work from a place of passion and lead with efficiency and focus.
- Unlock or reignite passion in your work
- Motivate your business forward
- Find joy in leading those around you
- Leave a legacy of impact
Level Up: Leading Teams that Finish Well
A cohesive team is the ultimate competitive advantage. Yet, stumbling blocks inhibit teams from running efficiently in the same direction. Barriers to the cohesive team cause frustration for the leaders and the team members who desire to succeed. So how do you create and maintain a culture of collaboration in the teams you lead? Dean Niewolny has spent 35 years equipping Fortune 100 and 500 executives and teams. In that time, he mastered a framework for leaders and teams that finish well. Dean walks teams and leaders through breaking down barriers and reuniting with passion around a common vision using this framework, team-building exercises, and actionable advice.
- Renewed appreciation and respect for all coworkers and what they are contributing
- A cohesive team with a culture of collaboration
- Boosted performance and morale
- Re-ignited passion for corporate vision
Quote:
“The majority of us, however we define success, come to a time when having it for its own sake pales next to the real trophies of true direction: our effects on other lives, a chance to make a difference. And it’s never too late, or too early, to get it.”
What People are Saying…
Half-Time
“Dean gives you a powerful strategic plan (blueprint) for undertaking a second-half career that is full of adventure and significance.”
Management Staff
“Dean helps others find more meaning and purpose, rather than that frantic pursuit of money and position has up to now provided them. “
Leadership Staff
“Dean is a natural leader and helps others increase their level of performance in whatever career path they choose”
Books:
What does it take to feel good–and do good–in work? More money? Money falls short, says Dean Niewolny, whose finance career, four houses, boat, plane, and astronomical paycheck still left him restless. Call it smoldering discontent. Like most achievers, Dean found himself craving work that matters.
So Dean took the hard road to trade up, eventually landing at the helm of Halftime.
Now for almost anyone in any career–just starting, midway, or wrapping up–Dean has the goods. With deep insight from his personal journey, Dean lays out the path to a career with purpose. (Sometimes the career changes; always the heart does.) Readers get self-assessment tools and clear steps wrapped in twenty years worth of stories, hard-won wisdom, and grace. A person can know what he or she was wired to do–and how to get there.